"Indians are first class people suffering from third class governance," he said, saying only a minority could prosper in India.

"If you go to America or London, you will see Indians shining," he said, which also sounded like a deliberate twist of the BJP's 2004 "India Shining" campaign slogan. "My job is to change the system so all of India can shine."

He claimed he had "substantially reduced" corruption during his short tenure as Delhi chief minister, by encouraging people to use their phones to record any official offering a bribe.

His plans for bringing change on a national scale are less clear. Mr Kejriwal said he doesn't want to be prime minister, but again declared himself "an anarchist" trying to "shake up the system."

Such remarks are bound to divide his many critics and supporters once more.

But regular salvos aimed at the AAP by Congress and the BJP are a clear sign they're rattled by his political insurgency. "This is a guerrilla force attacking two standing armies" says Professor Bina Agarwal of Manchester University.

And the hole in Mr Kejriwal's sweater says this is a man determined to keep burrowing.